The Campaign

Part of the Cinema Q Film Festival - Screens Friday, July 19 at 5pm
Post film panel discussion with director Christie Herring and advocates from ONE ColoradoDigital Presentation - This locally produced marriage equality documentary examines the struggles and harsh defeat of the hard-fought No on 8 Campaign, as well as how public attitudes toward same-sex marriage have evolved since the ’50s. In 2008, after a long-fought legal battle, same-sex couples briefly won the right to marry in California. To make same-sex marriage illegal again, opponents quickly put a proposition on the November 2008 ballot. Proposition 8 asked if the California Constitution should be changed to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry. Incredibly earnest campaign workers are interviewed in the bustling campaign office, as are voters on the street and at rallies at City Hall.
The film takes a look back at the history of the struggle for same-sex marriage—from the rather polite demeanor of the Mattachine Society in the ’50s during McCarthyism, to the more assertive Harvey Milk’s campaigns in the ’70s, which had to contend with Anita Bryant’s “save our children from homosexuals” campaign. In the ’90s, domestic partnerships became recognized in many cities across the country and the role of communities of faith became increasingly important to the fight. The film illustrates how incredibly disappointing the loss on the No on 8 Campaign was but how, nonetheless, it helped mobilize and engage a new, younger generation in the ongoing battle for LGBT civil rights.